Harper Lee in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird uses a variety of themes to shape the novel. The coexistence of good and evil stands as a major theme and is a broad indicator to the thorough thought Lee has put into her writing. This theme describes the exploration of the moral nature of human beings - basically whether a character is good or bad. Harper Lee has built characters allowing them to have two sides. Examples of Good and Evil coexisting throughout the novel
- Braxton Bragg Underwood. Mr. Underwood (Sole editor, writer and producer of The Maycomb Tribune) shows two different sides of his beliefs over the course of the novel. At the beginning he is completely
- Jem and Scout's perception of society dramatically changes from the beginning of the novel to the end. They begin with the perspective of an innocent child, and after being exposed to the evils of Maycomb County and the American state of mind, they begin to build their own opinions.

Exception
Atticus Finch stands as a special exception in the novel. He has been exposed to both good and evil in his life experience, however he has just taken it on board and added it to his knowledge of the world. On top of this he has understood the evil and allowed his trust of the goodness of every human to dominate over the evil they show. Definitions:
Good- 1. something good, Do good to others.2. benefit, It's for your own good.
Evil- wicked; harmful.
(Oxford The Australian Intergrated School File Dictionary & Thesaurus)